STRATEGIC PLAN:
THE AMERICAN DISTANCE EDUCATION CONSORTIUM (ADEC)
2001-2005

ADVANCING THE LEARNING SOCIETY:
ADEC AND THE 21ST CENTURY
STATE AND LAND-GRANT UNIVERSITY*

INTRODUCTION

Members of the American Distance Education Consortium (ADEC) develop and provide responsive, high-quality, economical distance education programs and services to diverse audiences. Primary emphasis is placed on educational and informational programs and services related to food and agriculture; nutrition and health; environment and natural resources; community and economic development; and children, youth, and families.

ADEC has reached a new level after 10 years of successful operations as a non-profit distance education consortium of 50 or more state universities and land-grant colleges. At the beginning of the 21st Century, ADEC is addressing its value to its members and helping them remain viable as state and land-grant institutions in serving clientele with academic, research, extension and public service programs. ADEC, by virtue of its vision and mission, is on course to accelerate the ability of its member institutions to become fully engaged institutions and members of the learning society.

REDEFINING AND REINVENTING HIGHER EDUCATION

In 1996, faced with a chronic shortage of funds, public demand for greater accountability, soaring fees, and hard questions about research and faculty workload, the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC) formed a commission of university and college presidents to help define the future direction of public universities. The 25 member presidential commission articulated the role of the public universities as outlined by Justin Morrill to extend the riches of science for the benefit of all through public university service to community and nation. Morrill's vision was to create a system of "people's" universities that transcends class lines and provides educational opportunities to all classes and not just the elite. However, the commission envisioned a special new emphasis on responsibility to the community in the form of research and education serving public needs.

The commission concluded that however successful the public institution has been, a variety of problems have beset academe in recent years. These problems range from public skepticism about the institutions' ability to solve modern-day problems to concern that the institutions are more interested in research and academic publication than the needs of students of all types.

Thus, American public institutions have at the forefront of their agenda, the need to redefine and reinvent themselves in the ethic of serving on-campus students, lifelong learners, communities, and states. Institutions must not forsake the best of the past state and land-grant traditions. They must also, however, move to a new learning society model that epitomizes a university without
walls that is open, accessible, and flexible for accommodating today's needs. The model features instructional delivery and/or access anywhere, anytime, and to virtually anyone who seeks it.
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*This Paper is the property of ADEC and may not be used or quoted without permission.
Under the model, public institutions must examine the student experience and provide continued access to high-quality, affordable education; immerse themselves in meaningful dialog with their communities, including meeting international and national as well as state demands;
must respond to the needs of American public schools; and closely examine a culture that places
equal emphasis on excellence in teaching and service as well as research. As members of a learning society, they must become fully engaged to better serve their communities, however those communities may be defined.

ADEC AT PRESENT

ADEC member institutions offer programs and services in the land-grant philosophy through emerging network technologies that create access to quality distance learning opportunities. The consortium draws upon the best and most effective subject matter specialists and information resources to share knowledge and content with learners. ADEC programming is offered locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally and is characterized by the following principles:

1. Design for active and effective learning.
Principle: Distance learning designs consider:
• specific context.
• needs, learning goals, and other characteristics of the learners.
• nature of the content.
• appropriate instructional strategies and technologies.
• desired learning outcomes.
• local learning environment.

2. Support the needs of learners.
Principle: Distance learning opportunities are effectively and flexibly supported, including:
• initial disclosure of information on the learning opportunities.
• orientation to the process of learning at a distance, including use of technologies for learning.
• site and tutorial support.
• student advising and counseling.
• provision of technical support and library and information services.
• problem-solving assistance.

3. Develop and maintain the technological and human infrastructure.
Principle: The provider of distance learning opportunities has both a technology plan and a human infrastructure to ensure that:
• appropriate technical requirements are established.
• compatibility needs are met.
• technology at origination and receive sites are maintained to ensure technical quality.
• learners and learning facilitators are supported in their use of these technologies.
• partnering and collaboration are explored as appropriate.

4. Sustain administrative and organizational commitment.
Principle: Distance education initiatives are sustained by an administrative commitment to quality distance education, as indicated by:
• integration of distance education into the mission of the organization.
• financial commitment to accommodate diverse distance learning needs.
• faculty development and reward structures.
• training to support learners, site facilitators, and technicians.
• marketing and management structures to promote and sustain distance education.
• cost-effectiveness reflected through best use of fiscal, technical, and human resources.
• ongoing evaluation and research.

THE ENGAGED UNIVERSITY

ADEC has in place the philosophy and the potential framework for accelerating the implementation of the learning society model. As a consortium of state universities and land-grant institutions, ADEC can directly assist its members in the task of becoming a fully engaged institution. ADEC can also deliver value to members and customers and appropriately answer their question of what's in it for me? Success in institutional engagement is measured by seven principles (defined by the President's Commission) as follows:

Defining Itself as a Learning Community...The engaged university must define itself as a learning community, one that supports and inspires academic growth of all kinds, on campus and off. Learning serves all communities; and all communities serve learning. Oriented around learners' needs, the university must commit to maintaining a first-rate environment for learning.

Providing Widest Possible Access and Opportunity... As one of the public institutions responsible for granting two-thirds of all the bachelor degrees awarded in the United States, the engaged university must be dedicated to providing the widest possible access to the benefits of a college education.

Providing an Education of Value... The engaged university must provide graduates with an education that fits them with the skills, attitudes and values required for success in life, citizenship, and work or further education.

Contain Costs... The engaged university is dedicated to containing its costs through new partnerships and new paradigms for teaching, research, and service or outreach.

Be Accountable to Communities Served... The engaged university must be a prudent steward of public resources, conscious of the need to maintain and improve quality while containing costs. It must also investigate a variety of emerging mechanisms to assess the outcomes of the student experience.

Meet New Needs through Distance Learning and Extended Hours...Telecommunications and other technologies re-evaluate American life and many non-traditional students seek access to this learning community. The engaged university must be committed to developing distance-learning techniques and extended evening and weekend offerings to meet the widest variety of student needs.

Be Flexible and Responsive to Changing Community Needs and Demands... The engaged institution must be committed to developing new partnerships and collaborations and improving governance structures so that it can meet its teaching, research, and service obligations more effectively, work with its many stakeholders more efficiently, and respond to change and emerging needs more flexibly.

POINTS OF CONVERGENCE: CORE VALUES

The guiding principles for both ADEC and the engaged institution converge at many points, which can be summarized in five core values. ADEC members can meet their responsibilities to the American people by advancing the core values of learning-system excellence and access, diversity, accountability, globalization, and public awareness.

Excellence is the standard for all ADEC programs. Moreover, the commitment to excellence means that while ADEC cannot be all things to all people, it must remain accessible. Thus, all programs offered by ADEC members must fulfill their potential for true excellence and integrity in serving member institutions and in addressing the most pressing needs of the communities they serve.

Through diversity, ADEC members ensure gender, racial, and social balance. Diversity serves to enhance perspective, ensure quality, and maintain strength from which meaningful change can occur. Diversity is central to the ADEC commitment to excellence.

As a consortium of state and land-grant universities, ADEC is obligated to be responsive and accountable to the communities, students, and audiences served by its members. In building world-class programs, ADEC members are committed to improving and expanding efforts to articulate policies and programs that are relevant to the American people.

ADEC is global in its perspective to assist member institutions in developing world-class programs and meeting global needs. The global marketplace dictates that ADEC members develop and foster worldwide perspectives on issues and events that significantly impact its member institutions and the communities they serve.

Finally, ADEC helps its member institutions expand the public awareness of programs and benefits. ADEC helps member institutions put faces on their programs; to create consistent images, to project a consistent identity; to connect its identity to programs that serve people. Moreover, ADEC members must communicate the importance of the people and industries they serve. ADEC must also endeavor to help member institutions understand and fulfill clientele preferences, and help build public and private commitment for support.

ADEC'S FUTURE

Given the convergence between the engaged institution and ADEC consortium strengths, ADEC must assume a central role in advancing the learning society by helping member institutions become fully engaged with their communities, however they may be defined. That role is purposely addressed through major ADEC priorities including advancing the "collaboratory" educational model, broadening the focus of the Consortium to include total resources of member institutions, and leveraging the Consortium for generating major new resources.

The "collaboratory" enables, harnesses, and empowers visionary thinking about education and technology. As described by Tom Davis, representing the Tribal College membership of ADEC, "collaboratory" is a highly interactive environment partially made up of hardware and connectivity with software-driven tools that intensively engage people in teaching and learning. ADEC has a role to play, according to Davis, as a "collaboratory" for land-grant universities. The ADEC Program Panel expanded the definition of collaboratories as highly interactive environments made up of people, environments, hardware and connectivity and software-driven tools that encourage and enhance teaching and learning specifically to engage people in intensive ways in the created environment. Collaboratories can provide the means for meeting the needs of member institutions and can enhance the engagement with communities of interest, however they may be defined. Inherent in the "collaboratory" concept is that of a think tank for such issues as leadership development, pedagogy, enhancing learner access, and improved accountability to communities.

The collaboratory concept also embraces environments that enhance learning. These environments, as outlined in Seven Principles of Good Practice in Higher Education as referenced by Chickering and Gamsom (1991), analyze the multiple ways in which learning occurs and the different ways in which different people learn, emphasize essential faculty-student interactions, integrate new technologies fully into the student learning process, and enhance student learning through peer interaction. Opportunities for collaboratories are also evident in the Western Cooperative for Educational Technology (WCET) Principles of Good Practice for Electronically Offered Academic Degree and Certificate Programs. The recent publication authored by Carol Twigg of the PEW Foundation integrates the work of ADEC, WCET and others, including benchmarks and principles for assuring distance education from different perspectives.

Past ADEC principal successes with such tools as modular teaching and learning and the IDEAL principles of education help position the organization as a "collaboratory." Further, almost since its inception, ADEC has sought to help members engage communities of interest and has placed the learner as the apex of its mission and goals regardless of the mode of education, formal or informal. Sam Smith, president emeritus of Washington State University, calls ADEC "the organization that brings us to the table when we need the conversation." For the historically black colleges and universities, ADEC also offers a means of advancing the principles of engagement. According to Walter Hill, Tuskegee University Dean of Agriculture, Environmental and Natural Sciences, "The historically black colleges and universities must take the lead and do for ourselves. ADEC is an important partner as we progress."

ADEC also serves on the Army's Council for Academic Management (CAM) for quality improvement in the eArmyU initiative.

ADEC has identified six major strategic collaboratories as follows: think tanks, professional development/capacity building, distance education policy, technology research and development, marketing and analysis and peer-refereed educational products.

OUTCOMES FROM COLLABORATORY DISCUSSIONS:

1. Think Tanks

Facilitators:

Dave King, IHETS/Purdue
Dean Sutphin, Cornell University

Group Members:

Tom Fretz, University of Maryland-College Park
Katherine Harting, University of Maryland-Eastern Shore
Barry Jones, University of Georgia
Ken Kingsley, Oregon State University
Terry Meisenbach, CSREES-USDA
Kelly Jett Murphrey, Texas A&M University
Janet Usinger, University of Nevada-Reno
David Watkins, Cornell

Overall implementation should be based on priorities, i.e. work on 2-3 top choices. Each think tank must have a champion. A part of the choice should be consideration of how to leverage new resources in the selected area. Another criteria for selection - does the choice provide value to members? Beware of loss of critical mass . . . over engagement.

Think tanks will work outside the box, encourage future thinking and consider capturing and sharing the marketplace. Think tanks should deal at a level of abstraction beyond current practice. This is "institutionalized" brainstorming. This work should contribute to reasons members join/stay. The think tanks may:

- combine ideas into "new" knowledge.
- vet ideas, analyze.
- "walk the talk" - use technology to meet as appropriate

Suggested Operation:

The Board/Program Panel will select a small group built around a core from those attending the March 2001 All ADEC meeting to identify a set of six "conceptual" issues. A process and appropriate technologies infrastructure will be designed and tested to vet/analyze the six ideas and start with one or two. Use of outside people/ideas is encouraged.

Purpose:

The ADEC Think Tank will be a forum or series of opportunities to foster and promote creative thinking and analysis of issues that will impact education and technology in the near or long-term future.

Deliverables:

The ADEC Think Tank will focus on three sets of deliverables. The first will be research and investigation conducted or commissioned by ADEC members to assemble a critical mass of information on one or more of these critical issues. The second will be white papers drawn from expertise and this critical mass of information published for all ADEC members to use in discussions and planning on their campuses. And the third will be action plans for ADEC as a consortium, if warranted.

Process:

1. Structure for the process

a. Small group from Program Panel convenes to brainstorm and identify a series of potential critical issues.
b. Program Panel prioritizes the listed issues, adds and subtracts as appropriate.
c. Group drawing from ADEC member institutions and led by an ADEC Think Tank member from Program Panel begins analysis and research on top priority issue. This group will:
i. Analyze any available research and information on the issue.
ii. Assess the potential impact of the issue on member and other institutions.
iii. Draw available information together into a white paper reviewed by Program Panel as a whole, revise if needed, and then publish for ADEC members.
iv. Assess need for an action plan for ADEC consortium action.
v. Develop and implement action plan if appropriate.

Initially one issue should be taken through the process, but this has the potential of several issues being reviewed at any one time. It will allow for significant member involvement as it can, and will, draw from those who may not now be completely engaged in ADEC consortium activity. It will also provide a significant resource of new information focused on the issues that we now, or more importantly, will find critical in the future. It will continue to reinforce ADEC's position as a leader in creative thinking about technology and education. It will require some in-kind support from individual institutions with staff participating in the Think Tank process, but it will not require significant increase in funds from ADEC centrally.

2. Professional Development/Capacity Building

Facilitators:
Erik Anderson, University of Idaho
Kathy Wright, Kansas State University

Group Members:
Karen Berke, University of California-Davis
Charles Fletcher, Delaware State University
Ron Matason, The Pennsylvania State University
Theresa Murphrey, Texas A&M University
Zacch Olorunnipa, Florida A&M University
Kim Ragland, University of Kentucky
Nancy Sanders, Washington State University
Janet Usinger, University of Nevada
Ellen Varley, University of Maryland-College Park
Ashley Wood, University of Florida

• Call for Participation in the Professional Development/Capacity Building Collaboratory

A professional development collaboratory can offer support. Is it an ADEC priority? There is a need to check feasibility. The group defined professional development as the resource base. Resources equal people, hardware, and infrastructure. Capacity building is the primary step. Professional development is both education and training. It involves learning and thinking about learning differently.

If this is selected as a collaboratory, it will compile lessons learned/best practices and develop an expert data base (both hardware and people foci). It will establish a mentoring and modeling program. It will draw upon existing resources available including training, decision tools, etc. It will link to IDEAL continuation.

The ADEC Board must endorse this if it is to be a priority. ADEC could collaborate with a number of professional organizations (such as ACE) and activities. University administration must be involved.

Next Steps:

• A PCO/Program Panel call for involvement will be issued.
• Extend the concept of collaboratories beyond the university and include, e.g. business.
• Review resources on ADEC website.
• Assess professional development/capacity building/etc. needs of member organizations.
• Highlight and forward need for (P & T) rewards and incentives, internships through ADEC.

Suggested Time table:

1. Audioconference - June 2001
Consider partners - NBU, business, industry

2. Listserv - May 2001

3. Board buy-in ASAP

4. Review ADEC website - May/June

5. Design needs assessment/resource and expertise
Market analysis - April-September

6. Administer above - PCO/Program Panel
Help with administration - October/November

7. Summarize data - December/January

8. Develop next steps - January/February

9. Adjust strategic plan - ongoing

10. Tangible outcomes - TBA
- IDEAL?
- Audioconference series
- Online resources
- ADEC website
- Expert list
- Best practices documentation
- Professional development event
- ACE workshop, partnership conference
- Create a course - market through IDEAL
- Repackage IDEAL and other programs

3. Distance Education Policy

Facilitators:

Sue Day-Perroots, West Virginia University
Alan Escovitz, Ohio State University
Barbara Kirby, North Carolina State University

Group Members:

Arnold Bateman, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Larry Coyle, University of Minnesota
Carmen Gonzales, New Mexico State University
Valorie McAlpin, University of Maryland-CP
Cliff Moore, Washington State University
Ken Mudge, Cornell University
Betty Red Leaf, Little Priest Tribal College
Debbie Robison, University of Missouri

ADEC should broaden its membership base while balancing between historical mission areas and inclusion of new partners. Ideas discussed included sharing of consortial products i.e. resource library, open-source products, tutorial modules, freeware, need to identify resource base and procedure for dissemination. ADEC should establish Guiding Principles for Distance Education Policy. This will be implemented through a phone tree survey to find out about existing policies - what works, what doesn't. The collaboratory needs a broad perspective to consider DE policies including faculty and administration in addition to current membership.

ADEC debated the advantages of being more inclusive versus the threat of losing uniqueness associated with the core mission areas. It was generally agreed that being all things to all people was not acceptable, however every effort should be made to achieve a balance between expanding ADEC among other colleges/departments within respective universities and maintaining unique strengths associated with core mission areas. Within this environment, DE policies would have a stronger base within the greater academic community of institutions as opposed to being limited to Colleges of Agriculture.

It was generally agreed that policies will differ greatly from institution to institution depending on a variety of circumstances including existing state government rules and regulations. However, many institutions are struggling to develop policies that will sustain DE efforts. These policies may range from tuition costs for out-of-state students to faculty incentive and pay. Recognizing that every institution will have a different scenario to address, the collaboratory will develop guiding principles to assist administrators and faculty in developing policies that will fit their unique needs.

4. Technological Research and Development

Facilitators:

Kevin Gamble, ADEC
Dan Cotton, University of Nebraska

Group Members:

Taylor Byrd, Alabama A&M University
Dave Foote, University of New Hampshire
Bill McFarland, University of Missour
Brad Paleg, University of Maryland-College Park
Jeff Poley, ADEC
Ken Pruitt, Clemson University
John Romano, University of Maryland-College Park
Randy Ross, ADEC

The Strategic Plan should be articulated so that all can support it regardless of diverse interests. Institutions should create an internal ADEC team to deal effectively with this broadly stated plan. For this and other collaboratories to work successfully, each collaboratory must be provided a shared environment to plan, build and maintain that technical environment.

ADEC needs to be on "the edge." We must leverage collaborative resources. The plan is fairly bare on technology. How will ADEC address tech issues? ADEC seems to be a good platform. Can the consortium contribute resources to a "collaborative technical infrastructure?" ADEC needs a clearer articulation of values in the plan. This will help select priorities.

For collaboratories and collaboratory work to happen, a shared environment must be provided. The environment must be planned, built and maintained. This is where technology R & D is important. This collaboratory will build the infrastructure for the collaboratory implementation.

5. Peer-Refereed Educational Projects

Facilitators:

James Green, Oregon State University
Bob Sams, University of California-Davis

Group Members:

Roger Caldwell, University of Arizona
Jack Fenwick, Colorado State University
Deana Namuth, University of Nebraska
Bob Rost, Oregon State University

Introduction:

The ADEC strategic plan to develop distance education delivery of educational programs is on the right track. ADEC is education-oriented, web-oriented. This collaboratory proposes that Extension educational materials, including online educational programs, be peer reviewed. This means they would be shared and recognized by peers and colleagues. Recognition is a component. A peer reviewed course is more likely to be recognized and used.

A frequent response to this proposal for national refereed peer review systems is "just do it via ad hoc committee." But, there is a need to develop a rigorous, refereed peer review system for educational products.

Colleagues from many state land grants do the same thing over and over. ADEC can be efficient and promote quality. ADEC needs to get away from redundancy.

Perceived danger is that if peer-reviewed educational materials are used by many educators at different land grants, this process could lead to cookie-cutter approach. There are many ways to teach - materials don't fit needs of all users. However, if course on web is chunked, it can be modified as needed by multiple users.

This collaboratory must decide how to set standards. What is the distinction between quality and academic merit?

Expertise to do professional review is hard to come by. Assumption that faculty to do this will be there isn't valid.

What this (peer review of educational materials) does: Provides recognition; contributes to professional development and P&T; helps faculty use time more efficiently (don't have to re-invent wheel); and creates a quality program resource readily available via web.

New system for educational products may parallel the current system for peer review of journal articles. Maybe we shouldn't call it "peer" review. Maybe reliance on professional societies isn't the way to go. But peer group for peer review is essential, and that often means a professional society. Refereed peer review would not be mandatory.

We should be careful how we develop and employ this so it doesn't suppress creativity. In developing this process, it's important to identify the "what, why, how, who and when." To proceed on this, ADEC should form a task team.

Affirmation of importance to ADEC: Service to ADEC member institutions and their faculty. Structure to enhance ADEC Accountability (validates "ADEC Seal of Approval"). Integrates academic and Extension information programs. Facilitates lifelong learning, shared resources, learning modules, international multi-institution and multi-discipline collaboration.

Affirmation of feasibility and priority: Similar refereed review systems for research publications are of long standing in professional societies. A new system for educational products would be parallel in scope and acceptance. It is needed to enhance product quality, collaboration, use and economic efficiency. It would also contribute to establishing scholarship and scholarly activity of the authors.

Action needed to advance the subject: Buy-in from ADEC.

Cultivate buy-in from ADEC leadership and participants: Presentation and discussion at the ALL ADEC meeting in Tampa.

Specific next steps required and who is responsible: Should collaborate with MERLOT, ASHS HortBase and others in developing and testing review guidelines and in soliciting professional societies' management of the review system.

Suggested time table: Merlot began phase 1 of the framework for maturation of peer review in October 2000. Their Intl Conf is 12-15 August 2001, Tampa. Abstracts are due 1 May. Establish an ADEC task force.

(See Attachment 2 - Framework for Maturing the Peer Review Process)

Rural revitalization and promoting digital inclusion is an outcome of collaboratories that help position ADEC as a champion of the learning society. A National Science Foundation Grant of $ 4.04 million was recently awarded to ADEC to prototype and develop wireless networking and Internet delivery in rural areas. The benefits of the NSP funded project in which ADEC member institutions partner with Tachyon Corporation include high-speed Internet connectivity to rural and remote areas, thereby helping reduce the digital divide. Cornelia Flora, Director of the North Central Rural Development Center says, "The digital divide is about income and place. The Rural Development Centers will work with ADEC on focusing the agenda and evaluating results of the new National Science Foundation program." Says Ponca Tribe's community development leader Randy Ross, "It's not about haves and have nots in Indian Country, it's about those who get it and those who don't." Tom Davis also points out that "the tribal communities must end the digital divide in Indian country and work with indigenous groups around the world. ADEC has a role in this effort to get connectivity in Indian country, not to mention the historically black colleges and universities and the Hispanic communities. We need to bring the cost of education down, and ADEC has an enormously beneficial role."

Collaboratories, together with an effort to broaden the focus of ADEC's institutional involvement beyond the traditional food, agriculture and natural and human resources, and ADEC's effort to generate meaningful levels of major new resources provide ADEC the opportunity to implement basic imperatives to advance the principles of engagement among state and land-grant institutions, including but not limited to the following:

ADEC must advance the cause of member institutions to better engage themselves with their stakeholders and clientele. As can be seen in the attached chart (Attachment 1), ADEC's focus and alignment is consistent across the seven principles of engagement for higher education. It therefore follows that ADEC as an organization can help member institutions better engage with communities of interest on a local, national and global level as follows:

• Defining itself as a Learning Community... an institution oriented to learners' needs; maintains first-rate learning environment; supports and inspires academic growth. Several ADEC programs, products, services and values align with Learning Community objectives: E-Commerce; networking and networks development; product/service/course cataloging; portal (website) development and maintenance; grant programs development and administration; implementation of distance education principles, guidelines and standards; capacity and infrastructure building; leadership development; individual and team awards programs; the knowledge marketplace emphasis; evaluation modeling; promoting diversity.

• Providing Widest Possible Access and Opportunity. ADEC support includes networking, infrastructure and capacity building, leadership development, learning center concept, academic-extension program integration, technology research and development, sharing of ideas and resources, multi-institutional collaboration, global orientation, and community interactivity.

• Providing an Education of Value... providing graduates with an education that imparts skills, attitudes and values required for success in life, citizenship, and work or further education. ADEC support includes grant programming; pedagogical principles, guidelines and standards; audience research; community interaction; lifelong learning emphasis; promoting modular learning and the knowledge marketplace.

• Contain Costs... ADEC support includes capacity building networking, partnerships and developing new paradigms for educational technology and programming.

• Accountability... ADEC support includes adapting and promoting effective educational standards, evaluation programs, audience research and definition, community interaction, emphasis on diversity of membership.

• Distance Learning and Extended Hours... ADEC is committed to helping place bound and other non-traditional students gain access to learning communities through distance education and "just in time" learning and any place to meet the widest variety of student needs.

• Flexible and Responsive to Changing Community Needs and Demands... ADEC is committed to developing new partnerships and collaborations that enable member institutions meet teaching, research, and service obligations more effectively; work with stakeholders more efficiently; and respond to changing and emerging needs more flexibly.

ADEC's central role is capacity building in support of member institutions' efforts to become more flexible and more capable of the rapid rate of change implied by the shared core values of the "engaged university."

ADEC helps member institutions receive value-added benefits and provide value-added products and programs to clientele. Programs, products, services, and system collectively provide value added for members and help them provide programs of value to communities. ADEC value-added support includes:

E-Commerce
Course/Program Catalog
Grant Programs
Educational and Technological Models
Program Evaluation Models
Infrastructure and Capacity Building
Leadership Development
Networks and Systems for Program Access
Program Marketing
Audience Research
Community Interactivity

ADEC must expand its membership base to include other parts of the university beyond food, agriculture and natural and human resources. The membership conversation should be analytically supported through audience research and should include such discussions as:

• Broadening ADEC's focus;
• Level of emphasis on targeting highly specific audiences;
• Level of emphasis on business and industrial customers.

Utilizing market analysis, ADEC should function as a tool for the integration of extension, outreach and academic functions in targeting audiences for developing learning modules, informal educational programs, certifications and formal credit course offerings.

ADEC should encourage and embrace policy discussions in areas such as access, digital inclusion, rural vitalization, partnerships, globalization, etc.

ADEC has an expanded role to explore venture capital sources and opportunities to broker various educational projects.

9-26-01